Page:On the economy of machinery and manufactures - Babbage - 1846.djvu/134

100 of which has sunk in it a semi-cylindrical groove; and as such rollers rarely touch accurately, a longitudinal line will usually be observed in the cylinders so manufactured. Bar iron is thus shaped into all the various forms of round, square, half-round, oval, &c. in which it occurs in commerce. A particular species of moulding is thus made, which resembles, in its section, that part of the frame of a window which separates two adjacent panes of glass. Being much stronger than wood, it can be considerably reduced in thickness, and consequently offers less obstruction to the light; it is much used for sky-lights.

(145.) It is sometimes required that the iron thus produced should not be of uniform thickness throughout. This is the case in bars for rail-roads, where greater depth is required towards the middle of the rail which is at the greatest distance from the supports. This form is produced by cutting the groove in the rollers deeper at those parts where additional strength is required, so that the hollow which surrounds the roller would, if it could be unwound, be a mould of the shape the iron is intended to fit.

(146.) Vermicelli.The various forms into which this paste is made are given by forcing it through holes in tin plate. It passes through them, and appears on the other side in long strings. The cook makes use of the same method in preparing butter and ornamental pastry for the table, and the confectioner in forming cylindrical lozenges of various composition.

(147.) Of the Pentagraph.This mode of copying is chiefly used for drawings or maps: the instrument is simple; and, although usually employed in reducing,